Variable spacer attachment for typewriters



Dec. 26, 1933. MURRAY 1,951,018

VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Aug. 8, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 1 5 1K 7 H Q 6-- 5 7 Dec. 26, 1933.

A. R. MURRAY VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Aug. 8,1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 2%,, 1933. A.. R. MURRAY VARIABLE SPACERATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Aug. 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 PatentedDec. 26, 1933 ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FORTYPEWRITERS Angeles, Calif.

Application August8, 1932. Serial No. 627,913

8 Claims.

This invention relates broadly to methods of producing typewritten copyin which the lines are of predetermined length, as in conventionalprinted matter, and more specifically to an attachment for typewriterswhereby the method may be readily practiced.

A broad object of the invention is to provide a relatively rapid methodof expanding or contracting the length of a typed line while the line isbeing set up, and without the insertion of such long or short spaces atany one point as might spoil the appearance of the text.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a mechanical attachmentfor typewriters whereby the spacing between words or" letters may beincreased or decreased by a desired definitefraction of a full space;

As is well known, practically all printed matter such as that found innewspapers, magazines, or books is made up of lines of uniform length,so as to provide even margins on both sides, whereas typewritten workhas an even margin on the left side but a ragged margin on the rightside. It is readily possible to produce lines of uniform length whenprinting from type, for the reason that the words necessary to almostbut not quite complete a line can be first set up, and then the spacesbetween some of the words increased by the insertion of variable widthspaces to extend the line to full length. In the linotype, this spacingis efiected by means of wedges between the words which can bemanipulated to uniformly increase all the spaces between words anecessary amount. However, whether the type is set by hand or producedin a typesetting machine, adjustment as to length is obtainable easilyfor the reason that the type composing the separate words is movable. Inother words, all the letters that are to be in the completed line canfirst be inserted and then later moved as desired before the print orcopy is made.

The-foregoing methods of expanding printed lines are not applicable totypewritten work for the reason that in a typewriter each letter as itis set up is impressed upon the paper in its final position and cannotthereafter be shifted to vary the length of the line. Therefore spacesin typewritten copy must be inserted at the time the letters are set up.

Heretofore,'to the best of my knowledge, the only known practical methodof varying the length of a typewritten line has been to insert extrafull spaces between words. This method is open to the objection thatsince words are normally spaced apart by only the width of a letter, orsingle space as it is commonly termed, the introduction of an extra fullspace doubles the normal spacing; this is readily apparent to anobserver and spoils the appearance of the text.

In accordance with the present invention, I increase the length of atyped line by introducing fractional spaces between words or evenbetween letters in a word, sufficient fractional spaces being insertedat one or more points in the line to extend the line to a desiredlength. By limiting the increased spacing at any one point to a fractionof a full space, and preferably to one-half space or less, I can obtainany necessary increase in the length of a line without insertingnoticeably large spaces at any one point. Likewise, I provide for theshortening of a line by reducing the normal spacing between words, oreven between letters in a word, by a small fraction of a whole space(preferably not more than one-quarter space), suflicient fractionalspaces being removed at different points in the line to shorten it thedesired amount.

This application is in part a continuation of my application, Serial No.599,308, filed March so 16, 1932, on variable back-spacers fortypewriters.

A full understanding of my invention may be had from the followingdetailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings,

in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a typewriter equipped with mydevice;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional detail view in the plane II-II ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional detail view in the plane IIIIII ofFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken along the broken plane IV-IVof Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical detail view taken in the plane VV of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical detail view in the plane VI-VI of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view showing a portion of a typewriterequipped with a modified form of attachment;

Figure -8 is a horizontal sectionaltview in the plane V'lIL-VIII ofFigure 7; and

Figure 9 is a detail elevational view of a portion of the mechanism,taken in the plane IX--IX of Figure 8. Y

In Figure 1 there is shown a conventional typewriter, designatedgenerally at 1, having the usual type keys 2, a back space key 3 and'auni,- versal space bar 4. My attachment, designated generally at 5, isattached to the left side of'the 110 the opposite side of thetypewriter.

frame of the typewriter adjacent the forward edge thereof. It comprisesan outer case 6 having a plurality of keys 7 projecting forwardlytherefrom, the ends of keys lying substantially even with and slightlyto the left of the back space key of the typewriter, as shown in Figure2.

The device designated generally at 5 in Figure 1 comprises a U-shapedframe member 50 (Fig. 2), the base of which is secured to the frame 8 ofthe typewriter as by screws 9. The forward arm 10 of the U-shaped memberis provided with vertical slots therein for levers 11 upon the outerends of which the finger pieces 7 are attached. Each lever 11 ispivotally supported at its rear end by a shaft 12 projecting outwardlyfrom the base of the frame member 50. To normally urge the keys 7 intoupper-most positions a plurality of spiral springs 13 are positionedabout shaft 12, one end of each spring engaging with the rear arm 14 ofthe frame, and the other end hooking under its associated lever as shownat 15. Each of the levers 11 is independently rotatable about the shaft12. To limit downward movement of the levers 11, each lever is providedwith an adjusting screw 16 (Fig. 3) which is threaded into a lug 17,formed integrally with each of the levers 11, and is locked in aposition of desired adjustment by a lock nut 18. The lower end of eachadjusting screw 16 is adapted to engage with a stop plate 19 which isrigidly secured to the frame of the device and extends below all threeof the levers 11.

A lever 20 is also rotatably mounted at one end on the shaft 12, thislever extending forwardly to a point just back of the adjusting screws17 on levers 11, and being provided with an arm extending outwardly atright angles to and below the levers, 11. Lever 20 is normallymaintained in uppermost position against the lower edges of levers 11 byone of the springs 13 on shaft 12.

Lever 20 is connected by a link 21 (Fig. 1) to a crank arm 22 mounted onthe outer end of a shaft 23, which is rotatably journalled in bearingmembers 24 secured to the under side of the typewriter frame. Thus, asshown in Figure 4, each bearing 24 comprises an L-shaped lug, the shortleg of which is attached by a screw 25 to the typewriter frame and thelong leg of which projects downwardly and has an aperture therein toreceive the shaft 23. A similar bearing 24 is positioned at the oppositeend of shaft 23 on It is not shown in Figure 4 but it is to beunderstood that the construction is identical with that shown in Figure4.

Mounted upon shaft 23 is a pair of members designated generally at 26and 27 (Fig. 4) adapted to depress the back space lever and the uni--versal space bar lever respectively when shaft 23 is rotated. Thus,referring to Figure 5, member 26 comprises a crank arm 28 rigidlysecured at one end to shaft 23, as by a set screw 29, and pivotallyattached at its opposite end by a pivot screw 30 to a link 31, thelatter extending upwardly from the pivot screw 30 and being bent overand downward at the upper end to hook over the lever 32 which is a partof the conventional typewriter construction, and connects the back spacekey to the back spacing mechanism. It is important in my device that forany given rotation of shaft 23 the link 31 always engages the back spacelever 32 at the same predetermined point in order to depress the lever32 by a predetermined amount. Link 31 is therefore provided with aforwardly extending portion 33 at its lower end containing a slot 34,and a pin 35 is provided on arm 28 which projects through and engageswith slot 34. A spring 36 serves to normally maintain lever 31 in such aposition that the rear end of slot 34 engages with pin 35. However, whenshaft 23 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction to depress the backspace lever 32 the link 31 will move as a unit with arm 28 until itengages the upper side of the back space lever 32. Thereafter it canrotate about pivot 30, the pin 35 slipping forwardly through the slot34. However, when the shaft 23 again rotates in clockwise direction intoits normal position the spring 36 will restore the link 31 into itsnormal position with respect to arm 28 as shown.

The mechanism 27 for actuating the spacing lever 37 of the typewriter isbroadly similar to mechanism 26 just described. There is thisdifference, however. The mechanism 26, shown in Figure 5, is designed toaccurately depress the back space lever 32 a distance proportional tothe rotation of shaft 23. On the other hand, mechanism 27. is designedto always depress the spacing lever 3'7 its full distance regardless ofthe distance through which the shaft 23 is rotated. A spring connectionis therefore provided between the shaft 23 and the spacing lever 37.Thus, an arm 38 is rigidly attached at one end to shaft 23 and ispivotally connected at its outermost end to one end of a hollow shaft 39within which is fitted a shaft 40, the upper end of which is pivotallyattached to a lever 41 corresponding in general to the lever 28 inFigure 5. Thus the lever 41 has pivotally connected to its outer end alink 42 which extends upwardly and over the spacing lever 37. Link 42like link 31 is provided with a slot 34a therein which engages with apin 35a secured to the arm 41, and a spring 36a is provided to normallymaintain the link 42 in a predetermined position with respect to the arm41. Arm 41 is rotatably mounted upon shaft 23 and is actuated byrotation of arm 38 through the links 39 and 40. Thus, a spiral spring 43is positioned within the hollow link 39 and bears against the lower endof link 40 to normally maintain the latter in an upwardly displacedposition with respect to link 39. When shaft 23 is rotated in acounterclockwise direction arm 38 is moved upwardly and rearwardly, thusforcing link 40 upward by means of spring 43. ,The upward and rearwardmovement of link 40 in turn rotates the lever 41 to bring the link 42into engagement with the spacing lever 37 and depress the latter. Thismovement continues until the spacing lever 37 is depressed as far as itwill go. Thereafter the spring 43 compresses to permit continuedrotation of shaft 23.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that whenever shaft23 is rotatedin a counterclockwise direction the back spacing lever 32is depressed a predetermined distance depending upon the are throughwhich shaft 23 rotates, and the spacing lever 37 is, almostsimultaneously, depressed the full distance necessary to operate thespacing mechanism of the typewriter. As a matter of fact the arm 38 isso oriented with respect to arm 28 that the spacing lever 37 isdepressed slightly before the back spacing lever 32, and remainsdepressed during the entire period that the back spacer lever isdepressed, and returns to normal position, moving the carriage forwardone full space,

slightly after the back spacer lever has returned to normal position.This is for the reason that in some typewriters the carriage spacingmechanism functions incorrectly or is put out of order when a letter isstruck while the back spacer key is depressed unless the universal barhas first been depressed and maintained in depressed position while theletter key is struck.

In the operation of a typewriter equipped with my device the carriage ofthe machine is back spaced a predetermined fraction of a full space bydepressing one or the other of the three keys '7, these keys beingidentified by the numerals 1, 2 and 3, and each key serving to backspace the carriage a different predetermined fraction of a space. Thus,when any one of the keys is depressed until its associated adjustingscrew 16 encounters the stop plate 19, it engages with the horizontalarm 44 attached to lever 20, thus forcing the link 21 downward androtating the shaft 23, by means of crank 22, to actuate the back spacingmechanism 26 and the forward spacing mechanism 27 as previouslydescribed. Of course, when the back space key 3 (part of the regularequipment on a typewriter) is fully depressed it back spaces thecarriage of the machine a full space. It will therefore be apparent thatby properly adjusting the screws 16 on the respective levers 11associated with the keys numbered 1, 2 and 3 to limit downward movementof these levers, the shaft 23 can be rotated through different arcs whenthe different keys 1, 2 and 3, are depressed and thus move the backspace lever 32 through different distances, less than the full distance,to back space the carriage desired fractions of a full space. Inpractice, I so adjust the screws 16 associated with the different levers11 that depressing the number 1 key as far as it will go, back-spacesthe carriage three quarters of a full space, depressing the number 2key, back-spaces the carriage one-half space, and depressing the No. 3key, back-spaces the carriage one-quarter space. Of course the carriageis maintained in back spacing position only while one of the keys '7 isdepressed since the depression of the key simultaneously actuates thelever 37 associated with the universal space bar of the typewriter whichcauses the carriage to advance the fractional space to which it wasretracted while the key was depressed, plus one full space.

The operation of a typewriter equipped with my device will now beexplained by illustrating the reconstruction of a sample text whichwould be printed on an ordinary typewriter as follows:

Illustration A 1. Now is the time for 2. all good men to comeIllustration B 1. Now is the time for 2. all good men to come Line 1 wasexpanded with a typewriter equipped with my device by introducing anadditional half space before, and an additional half space after is bythe following procedure:

The first word Now was typed by striking the letters N-o-w insuccession, and thereafter striking the universal space bar once, all inthe usual manner. An extra half space was then introduced before typingthe succeeding word is" by striking the universal space bar again (thusintroducing an extra full space), then depressing the No. 2 key on myattachment to back-space the carriage one-half space while striking thei key. The release. of the No. 2 key then permitted the carriage 'toadvance one and one-half spaces. To properly position the letter s onefull space from the letter i the No. 2 key was again depressed toback-space the carriage onehalf space while the s key was struck. Thenumber 2 key was then released permitting the carriage to advance oneand one-half spaces (in position to print a letter spaced one half spacefrom the letter s) the universal space bar was then struck introducinganother full space, and the remainder of the line written in the usualmanner. By following the foregoing procedure very closely it will beobserved that the space between now and is was increased from one fullspace to one and one-half spaces, and likewise, the space between is andthe was increased from one full space to one and one-half spaces.Therefore, the entire text following the word is was advanced one fullspace, bringing the end of the last word is out to the dotted line shownin illustration A.

In the foregoing example, a line was expanded by adding fractionalspaces between words, the spacing between letters within words beingmaintained the same as usual. However, in some instances, it may be moreconvenient to subtract or add fractional spaces between consecutiveletters from the beginning of the line until a desired number of fullspaces have been subtracted or added as the case may be and thereaftertyping the remainder of the line in the usual manner. Thus, line 1 underIllustration A might have been expanded one full space by introducing anadditional quarter space between the letters N and 0, between theletters 0 and w, between the letter w and the full space thereafter, andbetween the latter full space and the letter i of the next word, thusintroducing the desired full space. Thereafter, the rest of the linecould be typed in the usual manner. Where a line is expanded as justdescribed by increasing the spaces between the letters in a word, it isdesirable to increase the normal spacing by relatively small fractionsof a full space. Where this method is followed exclusively, it may bedesirable to provide more than three back spacing keys. Thus, five keysmay be provided, one of which back spaces the carriage one-sixth of afull space; the next one two-sixths; the next one three-sixths; the nextone four-sixths; and the last one five-sixths. Obviously theconstruction of a device employing five keys instead of three woulddiffer in no material respect from that disclosed in the drawings, sincethe adjustments for the keys would be obtained in each case by adjustingthe stop screws 16.

The embodiment of my device described in connection with Figs. 1, 2, 3,4, 5 and 6, is very desirable for the reason that the carriage isautomatically advanced one full space in addition to the fractionalspace it was previously back spaced upon the release of any one of thekeys 7. However, it is possible to materially simplify the constructionof the apparatus by eliminating the mechanism shown in Fig. 6 foractuating the universal space bar lever 3'7. A simplified form of myattachment which provides only for the actuation of the back space leverof the typewriter is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This embodiment isidentical in all respects with that described in connection with'thepreceding figures except that the link 21, arm 22, shaft 23, andmechanisms 26 and 27 have been eliminated. Instead of actuating the backspace lever as previously described, the mechanism shown in Figs. 7 and8 operates directly upon the back space lever immediately back of theback space key. Thus, the lever 20a is provided with an extension 45that extends forwardly through a slot provided therefor in the frontwall 10a and is then bent to the right as shown at 46 to a point abovethe back space lever 47 upon the end of which the back space key 3 issecured. The end of portion 46 of the lever 20a is bent downwardly asshown in Fig. 9 to engage directly with the top of the lever 4'7.

The embodiment just described in connection with Figs. 7 and 8 isoperated exactly the same as the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6inclusive except that following the printing of each letter theuniversal space bar of the typewriter must be depressed to introduce theextra full space. Where the attachment is not used extensively, thenecessity of manipulating the universal space bar after each letter istyped is not serious and the apparatus has the advantage of being verysimple and canbe more quickly attached to a typewriter than can the morecomplicated mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 6..

I have described my apparatus as particularly applicable to typewritersbut it is to be understood that the method employed is also applicableto typesetting by using spacers of fractional width in addition to theusual full spaces. Thus, a type setter, in setting up line 1 underIllustration A by my method, would set up the line to the proper lengthin a single operation by inserting an extra half-space between Now" andis, and between is and the, whereas, in accordance with former practicehe would first set up the whole line with normal spacing and thereafterexpand the line by inserting extra spaces at random between the wordsuntil the desired length was obtained. My method is particularlyapplicable to type setting in multigraph machines in which letters andspaces can be inserted only one at a time through the end of a 'guidefor holding a line of type. In accordance with the usual practice a linecould be expanded in such devices only by first setting up the line,then ascertaining how much it would have to be increased in length andremoving whole sections of the line in order to insert the necessaryspaces to bring the line to the proper length.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that my method isapplicable to the setting of type as well as to the operation of atypewriter, and it is to be understood that where, in the claims, Ispecify a typed line, I intend to include both lines printed, stencilledor embossed on a medium and lines of type from which a plurality ofimpressions may be taken.

I claim:

1. A device of the type described for attachment to a typewriter havinga back-spacing predetermined fraction of a normal or unit space.

2. A device of thetype described for attachment to a typewriter having aback-spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable to theframe .of a typewriter, a plurality of keys mounted for movement in saidframe, means linking said keys to the back space mechanism of thetypewriter whereby movement of any key actuates said mechanism, andmeans for differently limiting the movements of said different keyswhereby one key functions to back-space the typewriter carriagea-predetermined fraction of a normal space and other keys function toback-space the typewriter carriage different fractions of a normalspace.

3. A device of the type described for attachment to a typewriter havinga back-spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable tothe frame of a typewriter, a plurality of keys mounted for movement insaid frame, means linking said keys to the back-space mechanism of thetypewriter whereby movement of any key actuates said mechanism, andmeans for differently limiting the movements of said different keyswhereby one key functions to backspace the typewriter carriage apredetermined fraction of a normal space and other keys function toback-space the typewriter carriage different multiples of said firstfraction.

4. A device of the type described for attachment to a common typewriterhaving a back spacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism, saiddevice comprising a key operatively connected both to the back spacingmechanism and the universal spacing mechanism whereby upon actuation ofsaid key said universal spacing mechanism and said back spacingmechanism can both be actuated by a single operation.

5. A device of the type described for attachment to a common typewriterhaving a backspacing mechanism and av universal spacing mechanism, saiddevice comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a keymounted on said frame, means linking said key to the back-spacemechanism of the typewriter, and means linking said key to the universalspacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement of said key in onedirection actuates the universal spacing mechanism and then actuatessaid back-spacing mechanism to back-space the typewriter carriage andupon movement of said key to its original position, the typewritercarriage is advanced the distance it was previously back-spaced plus onefull space, and means for limiting movement of said key in said firstdirection whereby such movement back-spaces the carriage a predeterminedfraction of a normal or unit space.

6. A device of the type described for attachment to a common typewriterhaving a backspacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism, saiddevice comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, aplurality of keys mounted on said frame, means linking said keys to theback-space mechanism of the typewriter, and means linking said keys tothe universal spacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement ofsaid keys in one" direction actuates said back-space mechanism tobackspace the typewriter carriage, and simultaneously actuates theuniversal spacing mechanism whereby upon movement of said keys to theiroriginal position, the typewriter carriage is vadvanced the distance itwas previously back-spaced plus one full space, and means for limitingmoveenore ment of said difierent keys in said first direction bydifferent amounts whereby one key back-spaces .the typewriter carriage apredetermined fraction of a normal or unit space, and the remaining keysrespectively back-space the carriage various even multiples of saidfirst fraction.

7. A device of the type described for attach ment to a common typewriterhaving a back spacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism, saiddevice comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a keymounted on said frame, means linking said key to the back-spacemechanism of the typewriter, means linking said key to the universalspacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement of said key in onedirection first actuates the universal spacing mechanism into theposition it occupies when the universal bar is depressed, and

then actuates said back-spacing mechanism to.

back-space the typewriter carriage and whereby said key upon beingreleased to its original position first releases said back-spacemechanism to advance the carriage the distance it was previouslyback-spaced and subsequently releases the universal spacing mechanism toadvance the carriage an additional full space, and means for limitingmovement of said key in said first direction whereby such movementback-spaces the carriage a predetermined fraction of a normal or unitspace.

8. A device of the type described for attachment to a typewriter havinga back-spacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism. said devicecomprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a pluralityof keys mount-ed on said frame, means linking said keys to theback-space mechanism of the typewriter, and means linking said keys tothe universal spacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement ofsaid keys in one direction first actuates the universal spacingmechanism into the position it occupies when the universal bar isdepressed, and then actuates said back-spacing mechanism to back-spacethe typewriterlcarriage and whereby each one of said keys upon beingreleased to its original position first releases said back-spacemechanism-to advance the carriage the distance it was previouslyback-spaced and subsequently releases the universal spacing mechanism toadvance the carriage an additional full space, and means for limitingmovement of said different keys in said first direction by difierentamounts whereby one key back-spaces the typewriter carriage apredetermined fraction of a normal or unit space, and the remaining keysrespectively back'space the carriage various even multiples of saidfirst fraction.

ALAN ROBERT TMURRAY.

